Does Using A Hearing Aid Weaken Your Real Hearing?

The question of whether or not using a hearing aid weakens your real hearing is actually a very popular one. Those who tend to need extra support without hearing will always have that trick of perception. The short answer to this question is that definitely not, hearing aids will not weaken your real hearing. As long as they have been programmed correctly for your specific hearing needs, hearing aids have been proven to keep your hearing abilities much sharper over time. They also work to delay the natural progression of hearing loss.

A tricky perception

As we said, it’s a trick of perception. When you wear hearing aids for a few weeks you may feel like the world sounds differently when you take them off. That moment when you put your hearing aids away for bedtime but then you continue to have a conversation or watch TV, can make you feel like your hearing is worse than before. In reality, the misconception is that because the brain is tricking you.

A person who experiences hearing loss usually waits up to a decade before seeking any help. This is usually because they don’t even know that they are managing any hearing loss until it has been that length of time. They wouldn’t consider seeing an audiologist or getting hearing aids because they don’t believe they need them.

Due to the length of time it usually takes to see an audiologist, the brain becomes more accustomed to hearing loss and begins to perceive the loss as the real hearing ability. The loss, to you, is normal. So, when you do use a hearing aid, you find that the world is amplified and when you take it off again you feel like you’re losing your hearing. The reality here is that you are not losing any more hearing than usual, it’s just that finally you have woken up to that.

The volume and clarity of sound can’t seem quite jarring for the first few weeks of wearing hearing aids. Your brain learns and readjust to recognizing a new level of normal when it comes to your hearing ability. This makes your hearing loss more noticeable, and you might find out from your hearing aids that the sound can feel drastically different, because it is – you were just used to it. 

Amplifying Your Senses

All of this is very similar to when you need glasses for the first time. You’re so used to seeing the misshapen green blobs in the sky but you don’t quite realize that what you are looking at is leaves. When you get your glasses, your eyes learn to adjust to the world as it is supposed to be seen. After a few weeks, you may find it quite scary when you take off your glasses and realize just how bad your eyesight was.

Well-fitted hearing aids can make all the difference to your real hearing. When you see an audiologist, they will be able to ensure that your hearing aids fit you and your needs exactly. Hearing aids work by amplifying and processing sounds so that you are able to hear them more easily. Sounds that are played directly next to eardrums can cause damage, but your hearing aid is not going to do that.

The volume of a well-fitted hearing aid won’t be loud enough to do you any harm, and that’s why you need to seek the help of an expert audiologist for this. After you have had your rehabilitation period from when your fitting occurs, if the hearing aids feel too loud you need to let them know.

An audiologist will be able to adjust them correctly for you, and if the devices are programmed to amplify frequencies that you can already hear well, that then poses a danger in the long run. There are specific circumstances where improperly fitted hearing aids can pose a danger to your hearing, especially being louder than necessary to compensate for your hearing loss. But this is the difference between seeing an expert audiologist and not. 

Seeking help

If you want to learn more about your hearing aid needs, seeking out the help of professionals at Hear Here Audiology is the smartest thing to do. You can call us today at 727-289-1212 and get in touch with experts who can help you. You deserve to have the best fitting hearing aids that suit your hair and loss. Seeking the help of an expert gets you there, and you will come out feeling like you can hear the world again the way it was always meant to be had.